Press Room

It’s been said that the largest armed force on earth convenes on grain fields each September to shoot doves. Under the hot sun, around barbecue pits, iced drinks and panting dogs, camo-clad hunters usher in the real new year pursuing birds.

Fireworks erupt at the legal shooting time. Shotguns blast salutations at diminutive gray gamebirds that streak overhead, barrel-rolling like Top-Gun cadets, some falling in a feathery poof. That’s how my own indoctrination into hunting humbly began under the watchful eye of my grandfather. But the world’s one helluva lot bigger than a dusty Mississippi Delta dove field.

I found out that doves were plentiful in South Texas when I was working there in my college days. I also hunted bobwhite and scaled quail there. They preferred running to holding tight, but they were no match for my energetic springer spaniel. The behavior of those birds was an eve-opener for both of us.

We returned home with our hunting world expanded. We then pursued the migratory woodcocks  in bottomland hardwood thickets, Wilson’s snipe on the drained-field mudflats, and moved on to pheasant in corn fields of the Midwest.

SCI Game Birds of the World Awards helps hunters learn about the many opportunities for wingshooting around the world and rewards their efforts. The platform is relatively new and stands alone from SCI existing game species awards.

Registration is as simple as completing a SCI Gamebirds of the World Photo Entry Form and submitting a grip-and-grin photo showing the distinguishing feather characteristics of your prized game bird.

My upland journey continued with deep-woods ruffed grouse, open-prairie sharp-tails and all the overseas birds: black grouse, capercaillie and an entire world’s worth of beautiful gamebirds. It was then on to Argentina, which is renowned for ducks and doves, but where hunting perdiz over pointers speaks to their own traditional heartbeat. Likewise, in South Africa, hunting guineafowl, rock pigeons, sand grouse and myriad francolin species have been elevated to near art form via orchestrated drives and deployed German short- haired pointers.

The world is full of amazing gamebirds. The awards program helps ensure hunters on their journeys know of these many opportunities for sport and conservation around the world. Check out safariclub.org/game-birds-of-the-world to get your journey jumpstarted.

And to think that my journey with the gamebirds of the world all started on a dove field in Mississippi.

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SCI Gamebirds of the World Awards Platform Opens Exciting New Frontiers

Backdropped by the mountainous game room displaying world sheep slams and other lifetime accomplishments from hunting big game worldwide, devoted Safari Club International (SCI) member Shaun Harris explains, “I’ve always loved hunting ducks and upland birds, but there’s something about their subtle beauty—about their dazzling colors, especially—that add another whole dimension to this room where I’m reminded of some of the happiest times of my life. And a lot of hunters don’t even realize that birds can be hunted nearly anywhere worldwide that big game are hunted.” The world truly is a whole lot bigger than our own back yards, abounding with dizzying arrays of ducks, geese, swans and upland gamebirds worldwide. In fact, there are 6 whole continents worth of opportunity!

Water runs downhill, collecting in low-lying wetlands. For that reason alone, waterfowl are most oftentimes hunted worldwide at or even below sea level. But that’s where things get fun—based on a 100-plus species’ varied life histories, chasing them takes hunters to open seas and rocky shorelines, fast-moving rivers and tranquil marshlands, all points in between. Great needle-in-a-haystack example of fully immersing oneself into a landscape while toting a shotgun and wearing waders is hunting African pygmy geese. In an otherwise arid, South Africa landscape, they’re hunted in lily pad-covered wetlands. Talk about fresh perspective! And there are exceptions to the low-lying areas rule, too—such as the unique ducks and geese inhabiting high-altitude, altiplano wetlands among the Andes Mountains.

As if waterfowl weren’t enough to keep us busy, there are 100-plus more upland gamebirds. While hunters may have since progressed up hunting’s food chain, most youthful hunting introductions likely involved swinging hand-me-down scatterguns at doves under the watchful eyes of their ancestors or stumbling headlong through cover behind setters that behaved way differently with noses full of birds than when they’d been asleep under the kitchen table the previous night. To later learn there’s a world full of such gamebirds can be eye-opening. And inspiring. Stalking capercaillie in boreal forest environments so quiet that breath can be heard crystallizing, watching driven guineafowl hurling towards the shooting line like black-with-white-polka-dotted cannonballs, seeing ruffed grouse fading from peripheral vision more quickly than a shotgun can be shouldered embodies addictive explorations of new feathered frontiers seeped in deep-rooted upbringings.

SCI’s Gamebirds of the World Awards Platform is a relatively new, standalone platform not intermixed with existing Big Game Species Awards. It will increasingly bring needed attention to bird hunting opportunities and conservation.  Registration is as simple as completing a Gamebirds of the World Photo Entry Form and submitting a grip-and-grin photo showing distinguishing feather characteristics of your prized gamebird.

SCI has forever been the world’s foremost advocate of hunting and wildlife conservation, but the new gamebirds platform opens important new frontiers. For longtime members that have completed their big game quests or are looking for new adventures to complement their big game hunts, hunting gamebirds will be like finding religion. Importantly, expanding our renowned record book program to include waterfowl and upland gamebirds will potentially attract a newer generation of hunters that are passionate about what SCI represents. And this comes at a time that the stakes have never been higher.

Ramsey Russell is the owner of GetDucks.com, a United States-based company that facilitates duck hunting experiences worldwide and has been doing so since 2003.

He has hunted on six continents and spends about 225 days a year pursuing his passion, which has allowed him to gather a wealth of knowledge from around the world including during multiple visits to Australia, where he has hunted with Field & Game Australia members and also helped with waterfowl research activities. This passionate waterfowler has hunted diverse species in some truly amazing locations, but after two decades in business there are still some “bucket list” birds and experiences on his radar, hunting Cape Barren geese foremost among them.

Here, Ramsey Russell gives us an insight into a trip he made in January this year, leaving his Mississippi home and the North American winter to spend a week hunting Cape Barren geese on Tasmania’s Flinders Island.

Long  journey worth the effort

“Five flights later, the shimmering Bass Straight was glimpsed through puffy clouds, and ahead lay the small Flynder’s Island that was our destination,” Ramsey said. “Covering roughly 550 square miles, it’s inhabited by 900 people living close to the land. No [crazy] Australia anti-hunters here, I was told … no crime either. Cows and sheep plentiful, Cape Barrens too.”

Ramsey said the birds evolved in brackish marshes and still bore the greenish-yellow cere to excrete salt – but had since adapted to the island’s abundant pastureland – He said other distinctive features of Cape Barren Geese are their talon-like claws on deeply lobed webbed feet, and heart-shaped dark spots on their feathers. “Highly territorial, pairs and cohorts stake out each paddock across the landscape as their own,” he said. [Read More: Cape Barren Goose bucket list fulfilled]

Right from the very beginning of the planning stage, it was evident that our annual hunting trip to the Northern Territory was going to be bigger than Ben-Hur this year.

Not only had interest grown proportionately with the amount of southerners keen to tag along, but there was international interest as well, and anything that involves the modern-day Christopher Columbus of waterfowling – hunter, forester, and wildlife biologist Ramsey Russell – seems to grow quickly.

By the time accommodation, flights and land transport were arranged, the trip included three South Australians, nine Victorians, two Northern Territorians and four North American VIPs, for a total of 18 people, four vehicles, two houses and a cabin – and a logistical nightmare of epic proportions.

Ramsey was bringing a couple of world-leading scientists and a videographer with him, and before we knew it the necessary permits were being sought that would enable scientific sampling and the collection of waterfowl specimens that were destined to be museum exhibits in the United States.

Was it worth the effort? Was it a successful trip? Did we enjoy every minute of it? Absolutely!

The four days prior to heading to the NT were spent in Victoria, filming Battleground Australia documentary, Duck Season Somewhere podcasting, and taking samples from frozen Victorian birds that had been generously donated by Field & Game Australia volunteers, board members and staff. The new FGA national office at Connewarre Wetland Centre was a hive of activity and was the perfect place at which to undertake the task at hand.

Eventually, the Victorians made it to the NT and joined the others late on a Monday evening, and everyone was aghast that• our first me together was KFC and not something from the great outdoor pantry! But it was late, and there had been no chance to shop for food or prepare it if we had – and anyway, turns out this was our last non-game meat meal for a week. Spanish mackerel, magpie goose and duck were on the menu for the remainder of our trip, presented in almost every way you could imagine. Curry, laksa, dim sims, dumplings, stir-fried, roasted, barbecued slow cooked, deep-fried southern style, tomahawk steaks, schnitzels, poppers and it was all presented as if we were sitting in a posh restaurant.

The hunting was outstanding. Full limits were achieved on almost every outing, and on the few occasions an individual didn’t achieve a limit in. the morning, they went back in the evening to finish off. [Read More: Annual NT Magpie Goose Hunting Trek with a Twist]

Researchers and an American Hunter Race The Clock To Gather Specimens Before Waterfowl Hunting Here Is Banned

A bright orange fireball crested the eastern horizon, baking the buffalo-tracked, red-dirt landscape, wringing sweat into our shirts and ball caps like cutting a Mississippi lawn in mid-July. And it was only 6:30 a.m.

Overhead, intermittent flocks of plumed and wandering whistling ducks piercing still air with cee-dee-dee and felled by tall shots. In hand, we first-timers to the Northern Territory of Australia marveled at their beauty of extremely elongated flank feathers. But not for too long. The main event was underway. Waves of magpie geese stretching from one horizon to the next and for as far as could be seen through our sweaty eye slits. They were the reason we were here.

Magpie goose hunting is strictly a pass-shooting event. They lifted off in distance, trading between feed and water. They faintly honked like Canada geese and few at various heights over our shooting lines. Hardly anyone hunts them over water here — too many man-eating saltwater crocs. Out-of-towners, like myself, abide standard operating proce-dures. Ominous crocodile warning signs posted at property entrances plus we hear countless supper-table stories about 20-foot beasts snatching folks from boats.

Magpie geese are living fossils, representing an ancient connection between chicken-like birds and modern waterfowl. Magpie geese are about the size…Read More: Battleground: Australia Duck Hunting (PDF)

Thanks to Safari Club International‘s support, we brought along hunting videographer Justin Mueller, who produced “Battleground Australia,” that aired on GetDucks YouTube channel on January 23. The 19-minute hunting documentary importantly details the scientific value of these waterfowl spcies and of hunting to waterfowl management and to humanity worldwide.

SCI, Ambassador Called Worldwide Attention to Battle in Australia

Safari Club International, Field and Game Australia, and hunters in Australia’s state of Victoria are celebrating a hard-won victory over a battle to save duck hunting. SCI members will recall that SCI’s Advocacy Team joined a fight to prevent animal rightists in Victoria from banning waterfowl hunting there. (See June 2023 edition of Safari Times.) Sonya Kilkenny, the Outdoor Recreation Minister at that time, openly admitted wanting to ban waterfowl hunting and created a Select Committee comprised of anti-hunting proponents to “investigate” the duck season and determine the future of waterfowl hunting in Victoria.

SCI issued a Hunter Advocacy Action Center alert and on May 8 submitted 685 comments and letters from SCI members and advocates to the committee. In addition to explaining that hunting drives conservation programs, including duck conservation, the letters urged the Select Committee to base its decisions on science and ignore anti-hunting bias.

SCI also funded Ramsey Russell of getducks.com to travel to Australia with waterfowl scientists to investigate and report on the looming threats to waterfowl hunting there and the wildlife management and conservation that would be lost with a hunting ban. Russell posted his Battleground Australia documentary about the issue on his website. Look for Russell’s story, “Battleground: Australia” in the March/April issue of SAFARI Magazine.

In a letter to fellow members of FGA, a national association supporting sportsmen’s rights and conservation, board member Paul Sharp said, “so grateful that Safari Club International has seen our plight and stood so solidly with us in our fight to continue hunting in our country of Australia and all its challenges.” FGA’s Hunting and Conservation Manager Glenn Falla wrote, “This would not have been possible without the support of so many great people, including SCI and Ramsey Russell getducks.com.”

On January 29, new Minister of Outdoor Recreation Steve Dimopoulos issued a press release announcing that recreational duck and quail hunting will continue in Victoria with some changes to ensure it remains safe, sustainable and responsible. The government will adopt seven of the Select Committee’s eight recommendations regarding required hunter education and training, stricter compliance levels, banning lead shot for quail hunting, implementing a plan to reduce waterfowl wounding and recognizing the knowledge and land management of aboriginal communities. “While the committee did not reach con-sensus in its report, the views of more than 10,000 Victorians and organizations were heard in the biggest response to a parliamentary inquiry ever in Victoria,” according to Dimopoulos.

“Recreational duck and quail hunting is a legitimate activity, and it matters to thousands of Victorians who love the great outdoors.” Additionally, his ministry has authorized the Game Management Authority to implement science-based adaptive harvest management to guide the length and conditions of each duck season, beginning in 2025. The 2024 duck season in Victoria will run from April 10 through June 5, 2024.

Why would a world-renown waterfowler go to the desert to hunt ducks? Because they are there. There was still a bit of a chill in the air late last year as the sun began to rise over Phoenix, Arizona. No wind. No clouds. It was to be a blue bird day in the desert.

Bobbing in the current of the Salt River were a couple of handfuls of duck decoys as a few ducks, in ones and twos, flew over to take a look. Although it was anything but a wide-open hunt, waterfowling personality Ramsey Russell, Arizona Game and Fish Department Migratory Gamebird Biologist Johnathan O’Dell and the author were ready for whatever the day would bring.

Later in the morning, because the hunt was on public land within sight of the Phoenix metropolitan sprawl, the hunt also saw a group of birdwatchers with their binoculars and cameras stroll by, even as kayakers navigated around the decoys in the river. Talk about multiple use!

Desert duck hunting turned out to be a lot more fun than Ramsey initially had imagined. “I really enjoyed Arizona. People don’t think of the desert for waterfowl, but it can be a great place to hunt. When you find water in Arizona, you find ducks, Ramsey explained.

When Ramsey Russell talks about doing a hunting swing he ain’t whistin Dixie, so to speak. “This swing — so far this year, I went to Texas during the teal season, then Iowa, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Montana, Utah — north, southeast and west of the Great Salt Lake, Arizona — Salt River, then southwest, then New Mexico along the Rio Grande and then Roswell for sandhill cranes,” Ramsey noted shortly after leaving Arizona.

Read full story (PDF): International Waterfowler Goes To Arizona As Part Of Nationwide Tour

The 2024 GetDucks.com Catalog is awesome! View latest 36-page, full-color catalog online: Ramsey Russell’s GetDucks.com 2024 Brochure – Offering the World’s Best Duck Hunting Experiences (hi res PDF).  Or view the online flip-page GetDucks Brochure (link at bottom of each page of GetDucks.com).

Contact us to receive your complimentary hi-res, high-quality print copy mailed directly to you. Copies also available at Safari Club International, Dallas Safari Club, and other select sporting events.

In this issue: GetDucks Company Profile • About GetDucks • It’s Always Duck Season Somewhere Highlights • The Best Argentina Duck Hunts • Ultimate South Africa Wingshooting • GetDucks Conservation Corner • The Best Mexico Wingshooting • GetDucks Worldwide • Azerbaijan Hunting • Guatemala Duck Hunting • Alaska King Eider Hunting • Peru Duck Hunting • New Zealand Waterfowl Hunting • South Africa Duck and Bird Hunting • Russia Bird Hunting • Netherlands Goose Hunting • Sweden Goose Hunting • Australia Duck Hunting • San Luis Argentina Dove and Pigeon Hunting • Mongolia Bird Hunting • Pakistan Duck Hunting • USHuntList Outfitters and Contacts • It’s Always Duck Season Somewhere (reprint) • Affiliate Sponsors Pages • Testimonials • Collectors Corner • North America Waterfowl Species List • World Gamebird List (available at GetDucks destinations) • Duck Season Somewhere Podcast

View 2024 GetDucks Catalog 

Ramsey Russell, GetDucks.com, joins SuperTalk Outdoors with Rickey Matthews to tell of traveling around the world duck hunting but still calling Mississippi home. Growing up in the Mississippi Delta, he was taught hunting by his grandfather.

Duck hunting is about the passion, the quest, the authenticity of adventure. ‘Somewhere in the world, it’s always duck season”–especially in the most remote, wild pure destinations on earth. There are ducks galore in many places we hunt, some incredibly unique species, but for Ramsey Russell it’s not about collecting trophies or accruing numbers. It’s about collecting experiences.

View episode on YouTube: Ramsey Russell GetDucks.com

To this day, it still amazes me that my own grandfather’s half-century worth of hunting and fishing experiences can be summarized in a slender binder of maybe a couple dozen old self-adhesive pages. In just a few page flips, black-and-white photos transition to time-yellowed color photos of tar-papered camp cabins across the river; of fabled wet dogs that made legendary retrieves, talked about at more family suppers than can be remembered; of smiling little boys who became my father, uncle and family friends; and of my grandfather himself, the man who had grown much older by the time he mentored me.

I’ve spent countless hours studying those photos of bygone times. And I’ve oftentimes wondered if Grandfather would have written detailed captions— which is to say, any at all — had he known how treasured a family possession like that single album would become. Because, see, those old photos are the perfect summation of my own past, present and future as pertains to waterfowl hunting.

Photographs are powerful like that. And Yancey Forest-Knowles and Dr. Wayne Capooth, two accomplished old-school duck hunters who grew up hunting the Pacific Flyway and Mississippi Flyway, respectively, and are well aware of it. Their passions led them to…

Read full story Pacific Flyway: Historic Waterfowling Images